poison path – Teufelskunst

Seed Boxes 2024

The first 5 seed boxes have been shipped during the vernal equinox week! It’s been a hell of a work again and took longer than last time from start to finish. Extras inlcuded are some rare Echinacea ‘Green Twister’, darkred climbing monkshood, different ‘slate black’ lenten roses, Caucasian mandrake, some lovely low growing foxglove called ‘silverfox’ and big fat mandrake seeds harvested by my German friend @bussardflug Further this year’s box comes with seeds for growing your own fragrant sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) and the endangered white sage (Salvia apiana).

This year’s seed box is different! The boxes are pyrographed on all sides, with a variation of the Sigillum Major (Greater Seed Sowing Sigil) on the lid and devils and lunar planting symbols on the sides. The bottom is pyrographed again with the Sigillum Minor (Lesser Seed Sowing Sigil).

I have now started on the next 5 boxes… there’s exactly one box left for pre-order. 🙂

The preview shows the plain pyrographed boxes. In the next step these are stained with dark oak on the corpus and dark green to light oak color on the lid.

They are filled again with the annual seed harvest, gathered from my own witch plants, as well as seeds sourced from trusted nuseries and herbalists. The full list:

Aquilegia atrata
Aconitum napellus
Aconitum hemsleyanum ‘Red Wine’ (rare!)
Atropa belladonna
Datura ferox (rare!)
Datura innoxia
Datura metel var. Fastuosa ‘Black Currant Swirl’
Datura metel var. Fastuosa ‘Golden Queen Triple’ (rare!)
Datura stramonium
Digitalis purpurea ssp. heywoodii ‘Silverfox’ (rare!)
Helleborus foetidus
Helleborus x orientalis, dark color mix (rare!)
Hyoscyamus niger
Mandragora caulescens (rare!)
Mandragora officinarum (rare!)
Nicotiana tabacum
Papaver somniferum ‘Black Peony’
Solanum dulcamara

Angelica archangelica
Artemisia absinthium
Circaea lutetiana
Echinacea purpurea ‘Green Twister’ (rare!)
Foeniculum vulgare ‘Bronce’
Helianthus annuus ‘Black Magic’
Hierochloe odorata
Hypericum androsaemum
Rudbeckia occidentalis ‘Green Wizzard’
Ruta graveolens
Salvia apiana
Symphytum officinale
Tropaeolum minus ‘Black Velvet’
Valeriana officinalis
Verbena officinalis

Below are some examples of plants and flowers I have grown successfully from seed and which are included in this year’s seed box:

Update: the pre-order for the second batch of boxes is sold out. When I have finished these I will announce the next five boxes.

April 1, 2024

Posted In: Herbs & Seeds, Garden

Tags: handmade, sigillum major, pyrography, poison path, seeds, black flowers, witch herbs, gothic garden, seed boxes, blackingreen, woodwork, wooden boxes, witch garden

Plants and Planets

New: postcards with my occult/nature inspired “Plants and Planets” series from 2018!

The postcards are available in two formats, small 10 x 15 cm and large 13 x 18 cm. They have round edges and the sizes comply with common post standards.

In the past botanists such as Nicholas Culpeper associated plants with the planets, fixed stars and zodiac signs. The attributions were based on an intense study of a plant’s features, which included treats such as a thorny or prickly appearance, the scent emitted by the flowers or the entire plant, the plant’s life cycle, colors, metals contained in a plant, medicinal and other uses and of course plenty of folklore. Today plants are classified scientifically based on their genome, but their planetary lore is preserved and continues to evolve in the books of authors such as Stephen Skinner, Paul Huson, Scott Cunningham, Harold Roth and so on.

I find it inspiring to continue this tradition and to explore its own inner logic. Hence I created these planet themed still life photographs of herbs, that I gathered from our garden and surroundings, many of which are also part of my seed boxes. They are ordered according to the Chaldean sequence. With this series I yet delve deeper into the language of plants and the symbolism and magical properties attributed to them.

Please leave a note with your order, if you wish for the postcard to be signed on the back (no extra cost).

October 1, 2018

Posted In: Pflanzenkunst, Prints, Ritual

Tags: plant astrology, prints, still life, conceptual, poison path, shop news, postcards, plants & planets, planetary correspondences, witch herbs, planetary magic, chaldean sequence, poisonous plants

Dog Days 2018

Cleansing and blessing a dog skull with "Dog Days" incense, August 7th 2018

This week we had another “hottest day of the year”. Since June, most of Europe experiences a near ceaseless heat and drought period.

The hottest days of summer have been known for centuries as “dog days” (Hundstage), but this year they truly live up to their name.

The Greek called them kynádes hēmérai, Romans adopted it, calling them dies caniculares. Historically the period began with the heliacal rising of the dog star Sirius in the Northern Hemisphere, which Greek and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck, while to the Polynesians in the Southern Hemisphere the star marked winter and was an important reference for their navigation around the Pacific Ocean.

For my “Dog Days” incense I took inspiration from the paralyzing and deadly weather phenomenon.

The formula has been updated, with field eryngo (Eryngium campestre) being added to the baneful blend. In German language this type of thistle is also referred to as “Unruh” and “Elend” and the occurrence of clusters of broken off stems, similar to spiky tumbleweed carried forth by the wind, are named “Steppenhexen”. This stingy plant is almost impossible to touch or harvest without hurting yourself. Yet, and despite the heat and drought, it is frequented by dozens of bumblebees and other pollinators.

Beside obvious herbal references to the the dog/wolf totem, such as wolfsbane and mandrake, the incense contains also black and white henbane, which have been used in prophecy, baneful spells but also for rain magic. I burnt a good amount of it on this day, both to cleanse and bless a dog skull I found at the flea market, as well as to call for rain and cooling. It may have been simply good timing, but rain came the following morning.

I am often asked about side effects and dangers of burning venific incense blends – I can only speak for myself, I did not notice anything, apart from feeling more focused and empowered. I also sensed a relaxing effect on myself. A slight dizziness I attest to the burning sun and heat, not to the herbs.

Luckily, the worst heat seems to be over now and I look forward to enjoying the end of summer and working on art. In other news, new batches of “Qayin” and “Naamah” incense are now back in stock!

"Rain Spell" ritual with dog skull and "Dog Days" incense, August 7th 2018

August 9, 2018

Posted In: Incense, Herbs & Seeds, Ritual

Tags: veneficium, rain magic, wolfsbane, capnomancy, cleansing, empowering, nigromancy, dies caniculares, venific herbs, weather, weather phenomena, incense blends, summer, blessing, prophecy, ritual, divination, incense, dog days, divination & dream, poison path

One Comment

Site Launch and New Creations

This special incense blend has been nearly as long in the making as the work on this new website and web shop. Me and a dear friend, spent the past 3 months on building and bringing this baby to you. We have been testing, we have been despairing, we have been trying again and working hard to make everything work. All the invisible background work, that is noticed only when it is not done…

And yet it all serves one purpose: making available to you in a more convenient way my occult art, which you have been knowing me for since the past 9 years and which thus far could only be ordered via e-mail. It is thus with great relief and joy that this new website launches.

I invite you thus to visit the blog and shop. You will find all the old blog posts are there. And you will find new, easily accessible shop categories. By registering an account you can add items of your choice to your personal shopping cart. Or add all your favorite creations to the wishlist and then select those you wish to purchase. Checkout is easy and fast with PayPal.

Some of the categories are still empty or have only one single item listed. This will change during the coming weeks. For now the focus has been on incense creations, the mandrake project and a new category entitled “Sigilla Magica”. In the next post I will say more about this. For now lets focus on my most recent creation: the ‘Dog Days’ incense.

As the name suggests, the incense is inspired by the “dog days” – the long hot days of summer. It is made mainly from baneful herbs gathered from my own garden and surroundings. The black sacra frankincense from Oman lends the blend a deep resinous, almost medicinal aroma. This incense blend is in a way, a true “fuck off” blend and an answer to other people’s negativity. It does not smell nice or pleasant, rather bitter – like a bitter medicine. Yet it has something addictive about it; think of the smell of on a fresh oil painting or the scent in an artist’s atelier.

Btw. the incense blend can be used during any time of the year, not only during the actual dog days. The rare herbs contained therein carry baneful as well as empowering properties, and can be applied in various contexts, e.g. also for referencing the first dead in ritual. It is thus an incense for Abel and the able.

Available now – I made ca. 1,5 liter. When it’s sold out it will not be available again until the coming year.

Uses: banishing, exorcism, counter-magic, self-empowerment

Contains: bittersweet nightshade, black henbane, black nightshade, mandrake root and leaf, spear thistle, thornapple, wolfsbane, wormwood, black sacra frankincense, dark myrrh resin

Scent: bitter, tart, resinous

Warning: Contains several venific herbs. Not for beginners.

August 26, 2017

Posted In: Ritual, Incense

Tags: black nightshade, black frankincense, ars veneficium, datura, thornapple, incense, poison path, ritual incense, spear thistle, sorcery, abel, thistle, henbane, gravehound, black magic, dog skull, veneficium, dog magic, dog days, ars venefica, wolfsbane, dog star, banishing, wormwood, baneful, revenge & attack, bittersweet nightshade, baneful incense, exorcism, nigromancy, black sacra, fuck off, venific herbs, black myrrh, witch herbs, first dead